


Didn't Hear It Coming

by estheralex16



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Deaf Clint, Gen, Pre-Relationship, pre-SHIELD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 19:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3086156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estheralex16/pseuds/estheralex16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint gets himself in trouble when he's on the run and his hearing aids lose power.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Didn't Hear It Coming

Of course it started pouring because Clint's day couldn't go even a little bit right for him, could it? There was no way his almost dead hearing aids were going to survive the deluges. He was going to die, shot in some back alley in Belarus, because he couldn't hear his attackers coming. Just as that thought crossed his mind, Clint thought he heard something coming up behind him. It could have been his imagination because he could barely hear anything other than the constant beep that meant he should change his battery and even that was becoming harder to hear as the power slowly drained. The fact that it could have all been in his head did not stop Clint from diving to the side and drawing his bow. If there was no one there, there would be no one to see his ridiculous maneuver. As it so happened, Clint's brain provided the line, "It's not paranoia if someone is actually after you," as he took in the man dressed in a suit that had a gun out and levelled at his head just a fraction of a second after Clint had an arrow aimed at the same place. Then the burning pain in his leg registered.

  
The suit had shot him! And Clint was doing so well, he hadn't been shot at in almost a year and he hadn't been hit in longer. This suit had set both counts back to zero. Clint wanted to shoot the guy just on principle but he noticed the lack of chunky gold jewelry and realized that the suit was not one of the guys the mob boss sent out to kill him, and his shot hadn't exactly been fatal. Clint was slightly distracted by the pain in his leg and the rain pouring down, but he should put some effort into paying attention to the suit because it looked like he was trying to say something, but the pain and the rain were making it hard to read his lips. Clint figured maybe he should say something; it might stop him from having to shoot the guy.

  
"I can't hear you, and yelling isn't going to help." Clint saw the moment the suit got it, because he froze. He hadn't been moving a lot in the first place but the suit definitely froze, there was no other way to describe the total lack of movement. Then one of the man's hands came off his gun and he began to finger spell.

  
_Hello, my name is Agent Coulson, I am with SHIELD and we would like you to come in._

  
Now Clint knew the suit, sorry Coulson, wasn't there to kill him, he eased up on his draw weight, from kill to flesh wound. He had heard of SHIELD but he still wasn't sure if he wanted to work for them, but he didn't want to kill a government official either. He wasn't sure running was still an opposition, maybe if he could still hear but not with a bullet wound in his leg and not being able to hear trouble coming.

  
Just as Clint was trying to figure out how he was going to get out of there without committing to anything, Coulson twitched towards the entrance of the alley. The suits in the gaudy jewellery must have finally caught up. This not being able to hear while being chased thing was getting old really fast, and Coulson was finger spelling again.

  
_Truce?_

  
Clint could do that: he nodded and both he and Coulson turned their weapons to the alley entrance, just in time for two goons to come around the corner. Both men ended up on the ground, one with a bullet in his chest and the other with an arrow. Coulson walked forward to kick the guns away from the dead men and checked to see if anyone else was coming. There must not have been anyone because Coulson came back down the alley holstering his gun, and started to sign to Clint using both hands.

  
 _I can't see anyone else but we should still get you out of here. Get someone to look at that leg, maybe change out those batteries_.

  
Clint still had his bow in his hands but now he put it away so he could sign back. He had a tendency to yell when he couldn't hear himself, and just because Coulson didn't see anybody doesn't mean there isn't anybody nearby.

  
_I'm still not sure I want to work for SHIELD._

  
_We can talk about that later, let's just get you safe, then we can talk about your options._

Coulson started to untie his tie and kneeled in front of Clint. He wasn't exactly sure what the agent was doing until he passed the tie around Clint's leg and tied it tight above where he had been shot. Right. If Clint was going to walk out of here, even with Coulson's help, it would be a good idea to at least try to slow down the bleeding. Once the tie was secure, Coulson again started signing.

  
 _Okay I've got a car parked about two blocks down. We'll get you there first, then we'll see about medical attention. How's that sound?_ Clint nodded again. _Okay then let's get you up. On three._

  
Coulson got Clint's arm around his shoulder and his arm around Clint's waist. Coulson tapped three times on Clint's hip, and on the third tap the two men stood up. It took a second for Clint to get his balance, but once he had it the they slowly started to make their way to the entrance of the alley.

Clint hadn't realized it yet but he was finally done running.

**Author's Note:**

> I've read a lot of Clint recruitment fics and I always wanted one where Clint had already lost his hearing before SHIELD recruited him. So this is what I came up with.
> 
> Edit: Some formating stuff that I missed the first time.


End file.
